The present invention relates to an automated tool for modeling the cash flows of financial scenarios, which typically involve use of at least one financial instrument, between various parties to a financial transaction by providing analysts with the ability to graphically represent the parties to the transaction, and their complex interrelationships in a manner that simplifies analysis of various options for completing the deal. In particular, the instant invention is directed to a modeling tool that analyzes various aspects of a proposed financial arrangement between parties to the transaction on the basis of information provided through a high level graphical user interface, and prepares competitive financial proposals, structures the proposals in an optimal manner, and which may further be used to manage and administer the final transaction to ensure compliance and delivery of the financial benefits determined by the tool.
The computer has become a critical tool for financial analysts whose job it is to analyze extremely complex financial transactions such as leveraged leases. The computer allows the numerous variables in such transactions to be manipulated and analyzed in a fraction of the time required for these calculations to be performed by hand. Of course, in order to allow a computer to perform useful functions, whether the area is financial analysis or virtually any other subject, software designed for the particular application is needed. Such software is often referred to as a “tool.”
Certain software tools for financial analysis of complex transactions have been developed; however, they have inherent limitations and are very difficult to use for a number of reasons, including, for example, their inflexibility in altering existing models, their requirement of complex commands and codes for building and modifying a proposed model, and their inability to manipulate a financial structure at the higher level of an overview. The invention described herein was designed to overcome the problems with these earlier tools and represents a major advance in the field of financial engineering and analysis. The invention incorporates extremely sophisticated aspects of computer aided design (CAD) resulting in a graphical user interface unique to financial analysis. As a result, an analyst using the invention is able to quickly and easily analyze many different potential scenarios and to determine optimal terms for the particular transaction under consideration. For example, this novel approach gives the analyst the ability to see partial results when building a model, provides the financial analyst with dynamic overviews (pictures) of the financial structure that can be directly manipulated to alter the financial structure, and provides an object-oriented distinction between high level structure and financial details which allow the user to defer details until they become available or relevant.
As described in greater detail below, an important part of the invention is a computer software engine which has been designed to automatically obtain and generate information relating to a particular financial transaction or scenario in response to inputs from the user. The software engine and the CAD-like graphical user interface have been designed to work cooperatively together in order to create a graphical representation of the particular transaction or scenario on the screen of the analyst's computer. The system is designed to allow the analyst to cause this graphical representation to be manipulated, modified or revised so that information useful to many different aspects of the transaction or scenario can be quickly and easily obtained. The end result is a system that is easy to use, extremely flexible and far more efficient than prior financial analysis tools.
There are many automated financial engineering and analysis tools currently available for use by analysts to determine various components of a financial transaction and to optimize the transaction based on the particular data associated with the parties to the transaction. One such well-known tool is provided by Warren and Selbert, Inc., of Santa Barbara, Calif. and is referred to as “ABC”. ABC has been used by analysts to generate various alternatives within the constraints of a particular financial instrument and optimize the results so that analysts can generate a deal that is acceptable to all parties to the transaction. One such commonly used financial instrument is referred to as a multiparty leveraged lease. There are various other proprietary systems that provide such automated financial analysis.
However, all of these known systems suffer from numerous disadvantages. For example, the ABC program, and others like it, require the use of complex commands and codes for building and altering a proposed model. Moreover, the models typically must be built prior to having the ability to view any intermediate results. This, in combination with the complex programming-like language that is required, results in a very long learning curve for analysts who use the tool. Furthermore, the model, once built and run, does not typically enable the analyst to easily change variables or to easily view the resulting change in the transaction.
A primary source of these problems is the complex and inflexible user interface typically associated with these known tools. Another problem with such prior art tools is that they do not enable a user to model the financial deal visually and mathematically and in a manner which enables interfunctionality and dependency between the visual model and the mathematical model. As a result, the tools currently in use provide limited ability to deal with higher levels of complexity and the ever expanding universe of evolving financial products in use today, and which will be used in the future. Additionally, the inflexible interface makes it very difficult for different analysts to be able to discern the exact relationships and variables of a model that another analyst may have been manipulating when the model was being built and later modified.
To overcome the above and other shortcomings with prior art financial modeling tools, the present invention provides a much more user friendly, flexible tool incorporating easy to understand graphics and interfaces to enable more efficient and practical application of the tool. To that end, the invention provides a financial modeling tool that addresses model complexity with a graphical CAD-like approach to financial and/or mathematical modeling, which facilitates, among other things: the ability to see partial results while building a model; a short learning curve; the ability to make changes when the user views the results of the analysis; flexible “point and click” interfacing; easy handling of indexed data; integrated and automatic handling of certain variables, e.g., taxes and accrual; menu of building blocks, e.g., loans, rents, fees, purchases, etc.; menu of built in reports; and an interactive and intelligent graphical representation of the model.
In accordance with an important aspect of the instant tool, a software engine, hereinafter referred to as “engine”, is provided in the tool and is programmed to automatically obtain and generate information on a financial scenario in response to the user creating a graphical representation of the scenario with the CAD-like user interface. In other words, the manipulation of the graphical user interface to generate a visual representation of the scenario automatically results in the generation of information, such as formulas, objects, templates, timelines, calculations, constraints, parameters, optimizable parameters, cash flows, reports, or any other suitable information that is helpful in modeling the scenario represented by the visual representation created by the user using the CAD-like interface. The information generated preferably at least partially model at least a portion of the scenario. After drawing a scenario, such as a proposed financial deal, using the interface, the interface enables the user to enter data and formulas, edit the information automatically generated by the engine in response thereto, and to further define the scenario in a manner which enables the engine to fully model and analyze the scenario. Once the scenario is fully modeled, the tool gives the user the ability to instruct the engine to attempt to optimize the scenario, either directly or by creating formulations to be optimized and passing the formulations to a separate optimizing program. Once the deal is optimized, the results can be viewed by the user using the interface. The scenario can also be modified by the user and new results based on the modification can be viewed. When the visual representation of the scenario is modified, the engine automatically modifies the information previously generated in a manner which corresponds to the modification to the visual representation.
In accordance with a main aspect of the instant invention, a financial transaction modeling and analysis tool is provided which includes: a graphical user interface which enables a user of the tool to create a graphical model of a financial scenario, generally including at least one financial transaction, on a display screen; and an engine operable, in response to creation of the graphical model, to generate information which at least partially models at least a part of the financial scenario using information collected by the engine during creation of the graphical model.
The graphical user interface preferably enables the user to create party graphics respectively representing parties to the financial scenario, and to generate financial instrument graphics representing financial instruments, wherein each financial instrument graphic connects two of the party graphics. The party graphics and the financial instrument graphics define the graphical model of the financial scenario. Preferably, the financial instrument graphics indicate a direction of flow, relative to the financial instrument represented thereby, between the parties connected by the financial instrument graphic.
In accordance with an important aspect of the instant invention, the engine generates, in response to the creation of a graphical model, an instrument information, such as an instrument object or template, for each of the instruments in the graphical model. Once an instrument is defined, the graphical user interface enables the user to interact with the instrument information, such as adding scenario specific instrument data to each of the instrument objects generated by the engine. The instrument data entered in connection with the instrument object constitutes either a fixed part of the financial scenario or a variable part of the financial scenario.
The graphical user interface also enables the user to enter and define date information relating to the financial transaction for use by the engine. Preferably, the graphical user interface is operable to display the date information in graphical form on the display screen. The tool preferably enables the date information to be entered using a natural date language, wherein the engine is operable to process the date information from the natural date language.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the graphical user interface enables the user to modify the graphical model of the financial scenario, and the engine is operable, in response to the modification of the graphical model, to modify the information previously generated in accordance with the modification of the graphical model.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the engine is operable, in response to the creation of the financial instrument graphic, to define roles for parties represented by the party graphics connected by the financial instrument graphic, wherein the roles are used by said engine to define the parties interaction with the financial instrument represented by the financial instrument graphic when modeling the financial scenario.
The engine is preferably operable to determine and display an optimal solution or result for the financial scenario relative to at least one of the parties thereto, and to calculate optimal values for each of the variables defined by the instrument data based on the optimal solution.
The financial transaction modeling and analysis tool of the instant invention preferably includes an extensible library of predefined financial instruments, and the graphical user interface enables the user to select and use one or more of the predefined instruments during creation of the graphical model of the financial scenario. In other words, numerous common and canned financial instruments are provided to the user to facilitate easy modeling of common transactions that may be used in financial scenarios.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the engine is operable, in response to creation of each of the party graphics to generate a party-specific information on the party, and the graphical user interface enables the user to retrieve and modify the information in the party-specific information.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the graphical user interface includes a worksheet section, also referred to herein as “smart paper,” which enables the user to input scenario information which is independent of or supplementary to the date and instrument information relating to the financial scenario, and the engine is operable to use the scenario information when modeling the financial scenario. Preferably, the instant tool includes a formula language for use in creating the scenario information, wherein the formula language includes a library of predefined functions and keywords which can be used by the user when creating the scenario information.
The worksheet section is preferably a non-cell based, outline based interface for inputting data and formulas in an outline format. More particularly, the worksheet, also called “smart paper” herein, is a non-cell based calculation interface wherein references are based on a hierarchical outline rather than a position reference. In a preferred embodiment of smart paper, the interface enables one formula per row to be defined in an outline-type format.
The engine is preferably operable upon entry of scenario information, such as deal formulas, in the worksheet section to establish links between related scenario information and between scenario information and date information, thereby establishing a dependence therebetween, and further wherein the engine is operable to use the links when modeling the financial scenario. Preferably, the tool includes a library of predefined worksheets for use in the worksheet section, and the graphical user interface enables the user to select predefined worksheets from the library for use in the worksheet section.
The instant tool also enables a plurality of possible outcomes to be modeled based on different information provided by the user.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, the graphical user interface is presented on the display screen in a book-like configuration in which a plurality of different sections of the graphical user interface are represented by different chapters in the book-like configuration, each of the chapters having a tab graphic associated therewith, wherein upon selection of the tab graphic by the user, the user interface is operable to display the chapter associated therewith. Preferably, the tab graphics are located along a side of the display screen, and each chapter may include a plurality of pages, the pages having page tab graphics which are also displayed to the user when a chapter having the pages is selected by the user.
Preferably, the graphical user interface enables the user to view two of the chapters simultaneously in a split-screen format on the display. The engine is preferably operable to update information in each chapter in response to changes made by the user in a chapter.
In a preferred embodiment of the graphical user interface, the chapters include a diagram chapter for creating the graphical model, a parties chapter for providing data relating to the parties, a time chapter for viewing and editing dates associated with the financial deal, an instruments chapter for viewing and editing instrument data, a worksheet chapter for enabling the user to define scenario information or formulas relating to the financial scenario, an optimization chapter for use in optimizing the financial scenario, a payment chapter for viewing payment flows in the financial scenario, and a reports chapter for enabling reports to be generated relating to the financial scenario.